1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to communication interface equipment and, more particularly, to termination blocks for connecting systems for telephone networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Termination blocks are used to quickly connect telephonic devices, such as telephones, to telephone networks. A termination block provides a multi-wire connector jack, having multiple tines, to receive a multi-wire connector plug having multiple tines such that contact is made between the corresponding pairs of plug and jack tines when the connector plug is inserted into the connector jack. The jack tines are connected by wires to termination screws to which the wires of a telephone network are also connected.
The multi-wire connector plug is typically connected to a phone cord having two, four, or more wires by making connections between the corresponding pair or pairs of phone cord wires and plug tines. The phone cord wires are connected to a telephonic device such as a phone.
The termination block is typically mounted to a faceplate and positioned inside of a wall of a room. The faceplate has an opening to access the multi-wire connector jack from the room to allow the multi-wire connector plug of the telephonic device placed in the room to be inserted into the connector jack. Termination blocks allow telephonic devices to be quickly connected to and disconnected from the telephone network. Unfortunately, construction of conventional termination blocks is more expensive and less reliable than desired. Conventional termination blocks have numerous parts including multiple washers, wires, wire connectors, and other parts that are typically hand assembled. Also, since so many parts are involved, very extensive testing is required for each assembled termination block, which further adds to the inconvenience of construction resulting in undesirable costs being incurred.